10,000 Flights Canceled Because of Hurricane #Sandy

The flight-tracking service FlightAware estimates that about 10,000 flights have already been canceled because of Hurricane Sandy, according to the Associated Press.

From the report:

NEW YORK (AP) — Hurricane Sandy grounded thousands of flights in the U.S. northeast Monday and upended travel plans across the globe, stranding passengers from Hong Kong to Europe. The massive storm threatens to bring a near halt to air travel for at least two days in a key region for both domestic and international flights.

Major carriers such as American Airlines, United and Delta cancelled all flights into and out of three area airports in New York, the nation’s busiest airspace. According to the flight-tracking service FlightAware, nearly 10,000 flights had been canceled for Monday and Tuesday, almost all related to the storm.

The cancellations have already surpassed those from last year’s damaging Hurricane Irene. They’re now on par with a major winter storm in early 2011. Back then, 14,000 flights were scrapped over four days.

Delays rippled across the U.S., affecting travelers in cities such as San Francisco to Chicago. Disruptions spread to Europe and Asia, where airlines canceled or delayed flights to New York and Washington from cities that are major travel hubs including London, Paris, Tokyo and Hong Kong.

About one-quarter of all U.S. flights travel in or out of New York airports each day. So cancellations here can dramatically impact travel in other cities.